The It's Alive Show

The It's Alive Show is a television program produced in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Clownhouse Productions. The show is aired Saturday NiGHTS at 10:00 PM on WBGN, a local station and streamed online. Each show includes a horror or science fiction B movie with trivia, sketch comedy and live music in the breaks. The It's Alive Show premiered on WBGN on July 30, 2005.

Creator/producer Mark Menold plays horror host Professor Emcee Square, a dapper zombie in a tuxedo who revels in hitting his sidekick, Stiffy the Dead Clown (played by Shannon Norman) with a rubber chicken. The cast also includes a mutant hunchback, an opinionated demon, a diminutive (and MUTE) nosferatu, and a busty female mummy.

The It's Alive Show also organizes Zombie Fest, an annual horror convention and zombie walk in Monroeville, Pennsylvania. The Monroeville Mall Zombie Walk set a Guinness world record on October 29, 2006, for the "Largest Gathering of Zombies" with a total of 894 zombies and again October 28, 2007, with a total number of 1028 zombies and over 1,200 pounds of food collected for local food banks. The event has spawned World Zombie Day, taking the charity zombie walk world wide by encouraging other cities to hold their walks on the same day and collect items for local food banks. The Monroeville Mall Zombie Walk also won the 2007 Rondo Hatton Award for "Best Fan Event."

History

Originally, the program was to be a cooking show, proposed by Mark Menold to Adelphia Studios. After being informed that there could be no cooking with an open flame or otherwise in their studios, Menold came up with the idea of a hosted horror program on the spot. Taking his cues from other horror hosts such as Pittsburgh's Chilly Billy (Bill Cardille) and Philadelphia's Doctor Shock, Menold assembled a cast and began taping and broadcasting his program.

Despite a passionate fanbase and tremendous local visibility and good will, the show faced an Untimely demise when Comcast announced that it would no longer carry WBGN due to a contract dispute. On January 31, 2009, The It's Alive Show aired a live program from WBGN studios, ostensibly the show's final episode. Fittingly, that night's broadcast hosted the legendary Plan 9 From Outer Space. Menold ended the program with a note of optimism, however, vowing that the show would continue in some format.

The show has continued on WBGN in reruns since the station was removed from the Comcast lineup. WBGN is still available in digital over the air format and was added to FIOS systems in the Pittsburgh area as of March 2009.

True to his word, Menold announced on May 13, 2009 that The It's Alive Show would return to the airwaves on WPMY, another Pittsburgh-based channel, on June 13, 2009 in the midnight to 2:00 a.m. slot. Repeat shows will continue to air on WBGN at 10 PM on Saturdays. This happy news followed a massive campaign of emails and telephone calls to Comcast, as well as an online petition signed by over 2,000 people and a protest staged at Comcast's headquarters in Robinson Township.

Awards and notoriety

  • March 21, 2009 - Rondo Hatton Award, "Best Fan Event", World Zombie Day
  • October 26, 2008 - World Record pending - Largest Gathering of Zombies, 1344 Zombies, Monroeville Mall, Monroeville PA, Guinness Book of World Records
  • March 18, 2008 - Rondo Hatton Award, "Best Fan Event", The It's Alive Show's Monroeville Mall Zombie Walk
  • October 28, 2007 - World Record - Largest Gathering of Zombies, 1028 Zombies, Monroeville Mall, Monroeville PA, Guinness Book of World Records
  • October 29, 2006 - World Record - Largest Gathering Of Zombies, 894 Zombies, Monroeville Mall, Monroeville PA, Guinness Book of World Records
  • Sponsor/Promoter - ZOMBIEFEST and World Zombie Day

Fan base

The show has a rabid fan base called "The Lifeless," who not only frequent their website and [http://emceesquare.proboards40.com/v45index.cgi? message board], but also help in promoting ZombieFest, organizing get-togethers, and recruiting merchants, advertisers, and other fans.

Cast

Regular cast

  • Professor Emcee Square - Mark Menold
  • Pointy - Doug Appel
  • Stiffy the Dead Clown - Shannon Norman
  • Fritz III - Eric Forster
  • Leah The Mummy Girl - Bethany Tryc

Puppets

  • Mother - Mark Menold (Credited as Grandma Tippy Toe)
  • Urnie - Doug Appel, Shannon Norman, Joel Pavuk (Credited as Harry Menold)
  • Cyst with Teeth and Hair

Recurring characters

  • Hellga Scheidenentzündung, Granny Square - Angela Rocco
  • Mr. Neighbor - Eric Forster
  • Cal-Tiki - Joel Pavuk
  • Super Chicken - Eve Heidekat
  • The Whispering Nantucket - Steve Elkin
  • Prof 5000 - Jim Balog

Guest appearances

  • Scott A. Johnson
  • Mel Practice
  • Kyra Schon
  • Phat ManDee
  • Tommy Amoeba
  • The Forbidden 5
  • The Peekaboo Review
  • Triangle and Rhino
  • Norman Nardini
  • Caustic Christ
  • Steelman
  • Kabuki Thunder
  • Triangle and Rhino
  • Billy Pilgrim
  • House of Assassins

Crew

  • Mark Menold - Producer/Writer/Director/Editor
  • Doug Appel - Technical Director
  • Eric Forster - Make Up & Special Effects
  • Shannon Norman - Writer
  • Bruce Lentz - Film Archivist; Horror Historian
  • Bumble Bee Slim - Horror Historian
  • Joel Pavuk - Art Director
  • Mike Cornell - Editor
  • Jack Hargrove - Editor

House band

The show's house band is DEATHMOBILE, first referred to as "The Singularities," then "The Banana Peel Coffin Jockeys."

  • Professor Emcee Square - Vocals, Guitar
  • Pointy - Guitar
  • Adam Sivitz - Drums
  • Chris Owoc - Bass

References